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  • LA Trading: A sweet success that is "ripe" in season

    LA Trading: A sweet success that is "ripe" in season

    Mangoes are at their best when they are ripe in season not induced by chemicals or some special processing technique to speed their ripening process. Mangoes that are harvested at the right picking season are best consumed because they naturally smell and taste good. But before it reaches maturity- every mango needs to go through different production stages, one that requires careful attention and effective cultural management.

    The successful story of farmer-entrepreneur, Lito M. Arenas is somewhat likened to a seasoned ripe mango- rich, lush, and sweet. The Filipino phrase, hindi hinog sa pilit, expresses it fully. His life has gone through the natural course of "ripening" that he and his family are now reaping the sweet fruits of their success.

    But like every mango, it goes through the sour stage. How Lito came through the sour stage is not purely based on luck. "Life is never easy. Our success was founded on hardwork, perseverance, dedication, and resolute faith in God," Lito confessed as he retold his humble beginnings.

    His success in mango farming has been featured on the radio, television, and print that he is now one of most familiar faces in the agriculture sector. His name automatically pops up whenever one needs of a testimony of a successful farmer-entrepreneur. And truly, he continues to live up to the expectation not only of the officials from the agriculture sector but also his fellow farmers who look up to him for guidance and inspiration.

    "Everything has to start from scratch"

    Like every beginning, it's starts (almost) with nothing. For Lito and his wife Ching, their beginning is synonymous to P2,500.

    Their story started when the couple met at the Luzon Colleges in Dagupan, Pangasinan. After finishing their courses in nursing, Lito and Ching got married. In the traditional dance at their wedding, guests pinned money and P2,500 was collected which later become their capital to start their mango buying and selling business.

    From then on, hardwork, perseverance, and a wink by lady luck took over their fate. Lito went as far as Batac, Ilocos Norte just to find the best mango planting materials for his farm. He started providing a stable ground for his business by establishing connections from different regions as a mango contractor.

    He started his venture at his father's farm, a three-hectare land which has become utterly familiar to him as this was also the place where he gained his first experience in planting mangoes being the eldest of the Arenas clan.

    "When I was still in elementary, I helped my father and uncle in the farm. Since I was just a child then, my work is limited to cleaning and cutting the grasses. In the afternoons after school, I was in-charge of manning our mango stall in Urdaneta," recollected Lito. His experiences as a child taught him a lot which eventually brought him closer to the heart of business.

    As a nursing graduate, Lito finds no regret when he took firm grip of his fate as a farmer-entrepreneur. "God had other plans for me. I did not have the opportunity to practice what I studied in college but it played an important factor for me. In business, you need people's trust in establishing linkages. Our clients and partners trust us. Besides, I might not have met my wife if I had not taken nursing as a course." Lito avowed that they can still practice being dedicated nurses to their four children.

    "The sour taste could sometimes make you cringe"

    For anyone who wanted to make it big, success never comes easy. And just like any mango that goes through the process of maturity, it needs to outstrip the sour stage.

    During the course of establishing his business, Lito encountered several difficulties. One major problem that he needed to deal with was the high input and fertilizer costs. He outwitted these problems by seeking financial support from creditors endorsed by the Department of Agriculture (DA).

    To make up for his lack of technical know-how in mango production, he attended trainings and seminars on production and post-production technologies. This complemented his innate entrepreneurial skill developing further a deep sense of understanding of the mango industry.

    To strengthen benefits in mango production, Lito established the Pangasinan Tropical Fruits Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PTFMPC) located in front of LA Trading's office in Brgy. Matulong in Manaoag, Pangasinan.

    Lito's hardwork paid off when he started supplying mangoes to big local companies. "We were supplying fresh mango fruits to big local companies such as KLT Fruits, Pure and Rich, Tres Martires, and Hi-Las Marketing Corp.," said Lito.

    But the best is yet to come. The biggest break for him came a decade after when Zest-O Corporation, one of the major fruit drink manufacturers in the country, contracted him to supply mangoes for them. "We are supplying 60 percent of the mango demand of Zest-O Corporation and 30 percent of KLT Fruits.

    This prompted Mang Lito to establish more buying stations and expand hectares of land for mango plantation. "Due to the high demand for our mangoes, we needed to increase our production and meet the immediate demand," he said. He also started the mango processing business to make up for the surplus production.

    "Expanding horizon means going global"

    Although the demand in the local market is already good, Lito and Ching are also aiming for the world market, finding a way to introduce one of the bests (if not the best) mango variety from the Philippines.

    The international market opened its doors to Lito's company when he was introduced by a friend to mango distributors to Hongkong. Soon, his mangoes found their way to Hongkong, and later, Japan.

    "In 2006, with the support of DA-BAR under the leadership of Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar, we conducted a market reconnaissance study together with experts from UPLB, AMAS, and BAR. We visited major market outlets in countries of the European Union (EU) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) to identify potentially profitable markets for Philippine fruits and vegetables," narrated Lito.

    The funding of the market reconnaissance study was made possible with the assistance of the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) through the National Technology Commercialization Program (NTCP). It is one of the banner programs of BAR in meeting its goals for the modernization of agriculture, jobs creation, and building profitable enterprises. With the implementation of NTCP, it is envisioned that technologies are strategically placed and transferred to areas and communities that most need them and thus enhance technology transfer as well as realize the impact of research results.

    Specifically, the study in which Mr. Arenas joined in hoped to 1) identify the profile (kind, quality, selling price, labeling and packaging) of tropical fruits that are currently being marketed in EU (Rome, Switzerland, France, and UK) and UAE; 2) determine the main routes and transit time along with the handling route of tropical fruits from the country of origin to major market outlets in UAE and EU; 3) cite possible importers of Philippine-grown tropical fruits and vegetables; and 4) determine sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, problems and constraints in exporting.

    "During the study, we visited wholesale retail markets that conduct quality profiling of their imported fruits. We wanted to know the retail prices of their commodities and how the Philippines can comply with the packaging and labeling requirements. This was done so that we could look into the possibilities and potentials of how our mangoes can break into the world market particularly in those countries wherein quality standard needs to be strictly complied."

    Visits were coupled with interview and discussion with the importers and retailers to determine the import demand volume and quality requirements as well as the distribution channels of imported produce. The group of Lito also gathered secondary data on sanitary and phytosanitary requirements and trade regulations from concerned agencies and collected actual fresh samples and obtained specific information for promotional purposes.

    "No man is an island"

    Lito's mango recipe for success is not a one-man-effort. He sought help from various government agencies either through financial support or by availing of the latest technologies on mango production and post-production.

    Aside from being a mango grower/contractor, Lito is also a nursery operator and seed grower. He buys his seeds from accredited agencies such as the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and seeks technical assistance on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

    He started operating his nursery in April 2006 establishing his own greenhouse for all his planting materials. He is the only BPI certified producer of grafted mango seedlings in Region 1. He produces 65,000 pieces of grafted mango seedlings. "We grow the seeds out of our dried mango processing business and we use them as rootstock so that there is no wastage in our operation," said Lito.

    https://www.bar.gov.ph/index.php/digest-home/digest-archives/63-2008-4ht-quarter/1434-octdec08-la-trading-8

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